Bread Snatchers United

Wow, I've really been neglecting the blog--sorry!!

My classes have been fun, as usual, but after 8 hours of being mobbed up by excited kids, I basically just fall asleep after dinner.

To catch everyone up though, a few weeks ago, I had more sports meets, this time for the rest of my schools. With three schools, there was no leisurely photographing to be had, and I was busy biking all around south Misato to get to as many places and watch as many things as I could.



While sports meets are common throughout Japan and relays are standard, schools will also have different races.

One of my favorite races included bread-snatching, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to anyone. The kids would start from a few meters back before racing towards a pole with bread clipped to it. They would then proceed to try and pull the bread off the pole with their teeth. It also made me a bit envious of the kids who got to experience this every year.



Luckily enough, I got a chance to experience bread snatching first hand when I attended Misato City's International Sports Meet.

The event had a relatively small turn out, but it was definitely an international event and made me realize how large the foreigner's population here is. I found out that quite a few of my students have Chinese lineage after seeing them at the event, which I never would have guessed outside of class.

Many of the games were the typical undoukai games, which included tug of war, the ootama (大玉, big ball), and, of course, my favorite bread snatching contest. I snatched an anpan, a red bean bun, but if I was given a chance, I probably would've run away with the whole pole of bread, haha.



There was also an after party (family friendly!) with lots of good Japanese-style party food, which included yakisoba and many different fried foods.





Needless to say, it was all delicious!

Another highlight was E and her sister visiting Japan for the first time. Thanks to them, I also discovered the delicious wonders of the local kaitenzushi, conveyor belt sushi.



Since there hasn't been much else happening (besides being swamped with work), I'll leave you with that delicious photo until next time!

Around 三郷市

These past two days have been nonstop traveling all around 三郷市, getting lost and relearning some of the most important parts of childhood.

Riding a bike.

Due to Misato's setup, there are some things within walking distance and other things within biking/busing distance. However, busing can get expensive, so for a year-long resident like me, the best option is the one-time cost bike that will (hopefully) take me wherever I need to go provided I know the way.

The yellow color makes me want to call it "Kinkin." Kin iro (金色) being Japanese for "yellow." Kinkin (キンキン) can also mean a variety of other things in Japanese, ranging from "brain freeze" to "soon, before long" to "quite cheerful." I could probably take the latter two and skip out on the brain freeze.

The bike riding itself was daunting at first. Most of the time, I had trouble starting/stopping, so I probably need to make some seat adjustments, but I managed to survive, which really says a lot considering my lack of athleticism.

T and I pretty much walked all over lower Misato in search of a recycle shop that would sell used bikes, but in the end we found a much closer option at a Japanese chain super store called Don Quixote.

Don Quixote probably has everything you could possibly need in life, including (my favorite!) a giant supermarket downstairs complete with fresh vegetables, fruits, meats and seafood for great quality.

I should also mention that Japanese mushrooms are MUCH cheaper here. It's a good thing I like them since I believe I will be eating much more of them over the next year.

The flurry of activity these past few days have included meeting Misato's Board of Education and the principals, vice principals and teachers of my four elementary schools. Some of this took place at Misato City Hall, which was also decorated with the city mascots, Kai-chan and Tsubu-chan.

T, KB and I also took care of some logistics at the Misato City Hall, and KB was kind and generous enough to treat us to a delicious bowl of karaage donburi which consists of Japanese-style fried chicken with mayo on rice. Mine also includes of heaps of benishoga (pickled ginger) because I absolutely love the stuff with rice.

And with that, I will leave you till next time!